What makes people so cheap?

[Brent Smith]

There are always two sides to everything. On the one hand we have the consumer who is trying to make his/her dollar stretch as far as possible by buying at the lowest price possible for merchandise/service that they can live with. On the other hand is the merchant/service provider who wants to get as much for his/her product/service as they can. The funny thing is that almost everyone is both of these individuals. We all want to make as much as possible, while giving up as little of it as possible.

Things become a problem when, in the consumer guise, people start trying to take advantage of the merchant/service provider. David recalled a perfect example of his customer who returned merchandise minus the "free" gift. Others have brought up the point that some service people/clerks have been rude or indifferent to them at times. All it takes is one bore like David's customer to turn a person off to giving friendly service for that day.

I used to have a customer at my store who made in excess of $500,000, but bought on the internet if he realized a savings of even 10%. The kicker with this guy was that he would come into the store, taking up sales peoples time, to kick the tires and get all the info he could before clicking on the buy button online. Eventually, the staff got wise to him and started casually ignoring him when other people came into the store. He had the nerve to call me and complain about the lack of personal service he was getting. I looked up his purchases over the previous 6 months and pointed out that $0 spent didn't qualify him for exulted customer status and that perhaps calling the CS line at his online store of choice would give him more satisfaction. His response was that they only took orders and didn't know anything about the merchandise, and that he would have to leave his phone# and wait for a callback to talk to someone who could answer his questions. A perfect example of someone who wanted to keep his cake, but eat it too!

[James Mooney]

I think it all comes down to expectations and values.

When I grew up in Ireland in the 70's, having a roast chicken was a treat reserved for the occasional Sunday. It was a treat because, apart from being delicious, it was relatively expensive and unaffordable to have more frequently. Today, like everyone else, I can go into any supermarket and expect to pick up two chickens for approx $2.99 on 'special offer' (seemingly a permanent offer!).

What occurs to me is that whilst $2.99 is very cheap and affordable, is it really good value in the overall scheme of things? Well first off it doesn't taste anything like as good as what a chicken used to taste like. You can hardly blame the chicken for that! Nor the local farmer - typically he's only getting approx 50¢ per bird. The meat processors get approx $1.50 and the retailer gets from $2.00 per bird. The numbers don't add up do they! That's because the 2 for $2.99 birds are shipped in (to Ireland) from Thailand. If you want a locally produced bird you have to pay at least $4.50 including taxes.

The two questions that need to be asked are:
First, if the farmer is only getting 50¢ per bird is it possible to make ends meet without impacting on animal husbandry/best practices, the quality of feed and subsequent quality of product? In other words, is it really good value or does it fill a need? And as consumers what values do we place on the quality of the products we buy?

Second, are our expectations too high? We have come to expect to be able to afford to eat chicken daily if we so choose - and discard the leftovers, but is this sustainable and are we indirectly suffering from these expectations.

There are countless examples to be seen - can a printed T-shirt sold for $2 have been produced without someone somewhere getting a raw deal? etc. etc.

Apologies for the long post/rant but I think there is a lot out of kilter in our society due to unrealistic expectations and forsaken values. If people took a moment to think before they bought it would go a long way!

[Darius Ferlas]

$130 hourly rate for one man gang IT services?
Peanuts. Even though IT equipment, development tools, licenses etc are not exactly cheap and all that it will to be upgraded roughly every year.

If you hire a company expect to pay $200 to $400 per hour.

Now, how about a lawyer at $300 per hour? And all a lawyer needs is a $0.99 pen

[Mike Henderson]

Now, how about a lawyer at $300 per hour? And all a lawyer needs is a $0.99 pen

And a very expensive education.

Mike

[Heather Thompson]

I think it all comes down to expectations and values.

When I grew up in Ireland in the 70's, having a roast chicken was a treat reserved for the occasional Sunday. It was a treat because, apart from being delicious, it was relatively expensive and unaffordable to have more frequently. Today, like everyone else, I can go into any supermarket and expect to pick up two chickens for approx $2.99 on 'special offer' (seemingly a permanent offer!).

What occurs to me is that whilst $2.99 is very cheap and affordable, is it really good value in the overall scheme of things? Well first off it doesn't taste anything like as good as what a chicken used to taste like. You can hardly blame the chicken for that! Nor the local farmer - typically he's only getting approx 50¢ per bird. The meat processors get approx $1.50 and the retailer gets from $2.00 per bird. The numbers don't add up do they! That's because the 2 for $2.99 birds are shipped in (to Ireland) from Thailand. If you want a locally produced bird you have to pay at least $4.50 including taxes.

The two questions that need to be asked are:
First, if the farmer is only getting 50¢ per bird is it possible to make ends meet without impacting on animal husbandry/best practices, the quality of feed and subsequent quality of product? In other words, is it really good value or does it fill a need? And as consumers what values do we place on the quality of the products we buy?

Second, are our expectations too high? We have come to expect to be able to afford to eat chicken daily if we so choose - and discard the leftovers, but is this sustainable and are we indirectly suffering from these expectations.

There are countless examples to be seen - can a printed T-shirt sold for $2 have been produced without someone somewhere getting a raw deal? etc. etc.

Apologies for the long post/rant but I think there is a lot out of kilter in our society due to unrealistic expectations and forsaken values. If people took a moment to think before they bought it would go a long way!

James,

Bless you for this reply, it seems that you are a very knowledgeable poster, wish more here on the Creek as well as the world saw things as you do. I watch a program on PBS (public broardcast system) called e2, it talks about world impact based on profit issues, this should be required for all people to watch worldwide. The show talks about food production (as you have), human importance, transportation, urban growth, architechture 2030, clearing the air, etc. If anyone is interested I will be happy to provide links. It is my belief that if people truely understand the world, it wil not be cheap but better and sustainable.

Heather

[Darius Ferlas]

And a very expensive education.

Mike

Which leads us to the next question.
Why do law profs make so much?

I guess the answer would have to be an exercise in recursion

[Stephen Musial]

'twas the Great Mailbox Debate of ought-ought that Mr. Eisan instigated.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.w...ailbox&lnk=ol&